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With Jinseong’s invocation, power surged within him.

The life force, an essential trait for any human, trembled alongside the invocation.

Yet, compared to the practices of witches, it was far too primitive and inadequate.

This was a method devised by those who realized the power of life force before understanding the refined techniques used by witches; it was a raw approach to harnessing that power.

The strength of a tribe that had struggled to master life force.

“In this tribe, the distinction between warriors and shamans arises from the different methods of handling this life force.”

They say in that tribe:

“Train your body by hunting beasts. Like the beasts themselves, tear open the bellies of your prey to consume their soft innards and drink their blood, emulating their ways.

By doing so, consume and realize the life force, and transform that overflowing vitality into muscle, ready to hunt again.

This is the way of the warrior.”

“Feel the life force swirling within you.

Feel the utterly weak life force compared to that of a warrior.

Under the influence of drugs, connect with the souls of your ancestors and utilize life force under their guidance.

Use the waning embers of extinguished fires, the faint smoke rising from within you, as a sacrifice to perform magic.

This is the way of the shaman.”

What Jinseong employs is the way of the shaman.

But at the same time, it was also the way of the warrior.

“The warrior’s method may appear intact on the surface but ultimately leads to a horrific demise.”

The advice seemed alright.

“Imitate the beasts, eat the beasts, and train your muscles,” they suggested.

But the problem lay in the part about “eating the beasts.”

Wild animals are essentially bundles of parasites.

No creature is free from the dangers of parasites.

Fish living in water harbor parasites, and those in freshwater are often far worse than those from the sea, making them unsafe to consume raw.

The same goes for land-dwellers.

Land animals are replete with parasites settled in various parts of their bodies, so even if one were to hunt wild animals, consuming them carelessly is inadvisable.

Modern sanitary environments?

No matter how hard one tries, even livestock raised in clean conditions can still develop parasites.

While their number may be negligible compared to wildlife, the fact remains that parasites are guaranteed to appear.

Thus, methods evolved to cook meat and boil water for safety.

“We have always lived alongside the invisible, living among the visible.”

Consequently, parasites are an inseparable aspect of life.

Some can provide a suitable benefit, depending on their kind.

But that doesn’t mean cohabitating with them is a good idea.

The greater their population, the worse the situation becomes.

No matter how much a parasite hates losing its home, should its numbers swell, it inevitably drives its host to death.

Even a small bite, taken a thousand or ten thousand times, can make a massive beast disappear without a trace.

The warriors of that tribe also vanished in such a manner.

Thanks to the parasites aplenty in the raw entrails they ingested, they transformed into a host of parasites worse than wild animals, and while those parasites stimulated their life force, the vitality they enjoyed was drained at a pace far beyond their previous experiences, causing them to weaken.

Thus, they would hunt again, trying desperately to replenish that diminished life force, only to consume raw entrails once more and get infected by parasites again…

A vicious cycle.

The warriors fell one by one in that deadly loop.

Until one day, this training method was completely buried in darkness.

“Is there anything in this world that serves no purpose? There is utility in the useless! What seems useless at first always has its use, but humans fail to recognize its rationale.”

And so, it was that Jinseong acquired this training method from Africa, along with the vision, pulse, and the language of a tribe that had nearly become forgotten.

The old shaman of the tribe who revealed the vision to Jinseong mentioned that none of the tribe’s youth wanted to become shamans.

So, though a foreigner, he willingly passed this knowledge to Jinseong, who, like him, pursued shamanism as a profession.

Thus, a method once buried in obscurity found miraculous rebirth with Jinseong, turning into a treasure.

And so,

Twisting.

Sssss-

It became a vision capable of stimulating the parasites nestled within one’s body, amplifying the life force.

This amplified life force could then be combined with other spells Jinseong discovered in the ruins to alter properties.

For instance…yes.

Like the pheromones of certain insects.

* * *

It spreads.

Pheromones transformed from life force—once regarded as a good offering since ancient times—begin to disperse.

Carried by the wind, it spreads far and wide.

With that, the magic used by Jinseong activates, causing piles of dirt all around to tremble.

Twisting.

The dark piles of dirt twist.

Look, the black dirt granules have legs, one, two, three.

Three on the left, three on the right.

The rounded granules stretch out, with two grooves carved into them, dividing into three segments.

Twisting.

Behold that fierce pincers.

Look at those thick pincers, bent like fishing hooks.

If you get caught in those, no one would escape, and if those pincers slice you, it would seem you’d be split in two!

Twisting.

Look at that number.

Behold the multitude that has emerged from the massive subterranean expanse.

Scrape.

Scrape.

Grasses are being severed, and bark is being shattered helplessly.

Insects passing by are cut to pieces, and animals also flee in fright.

Look!

This is the might of an army!

* * *

Seoul was peaceful.

And the Seoul Specialization High School for Ability Users was equally tranquil.

“Please, let this work, let it work, let it work… Aaaah! Why isn’t it working! Why! Why isn’t the metal’s properties changing when I followed the manual!”

“Oh, deity of coding, deity of artifacts, deity of magic, deity of circuits, please, please, please let this artifact operate correctly… Oh, it’s working! It’s operating properly! It’s… Huh? It shouldn’t be working like this…? Aah…”

Of course, even within that peace, there were those howling in anguish, but… well, what could be done about it?

Humanity has always coexisted with suffering.

Historically, there has never been a time when the whole world existed in peace; suffering has persisted steadfastly.

So, it’s not surprising that pain exists amid tranquility.

Of course, for the ones suffering, that ‘normalcy’ is maddening.

“I’m no wizard… I’m not a wizard… I’m a bug… I’m a bug… I want to hibernate like a bug…”

“Why doesn’t God respond to my desperate pleas? I’ve changed religions five times, yet why won’t You lend me a hand! God is dead. God does not exist…!”

“Crazy. Even if a god did exist, they wouldn’t help you out of spite. Changing religions five times? Even in a game guild, if you switched that often, they’d call you a bat in the server…”

Those tormented were primarily the alchemists and wizards of their club.

They were half-crazed, scrambling to produce divine materials or artifacts for the culture festival.

Perhaps that’s why their actions resembled those of lunatics or zealots more than ordinary people.

Wizards crafting artifacts pulled their hair out, screaming about what part to fix when things failed to operate, while when they worked, they sobbed, confused about why it operated at all.

Alchemists?

Those trying to change the properties of metal were frustrated, wondering why, despite seeming to do everything perfectly, they weren’t getting the desired results, and sulking that this must be due to their experimental devices not being state-of-the-art, while they were unleashing baseless rage at one of the experimental materials or tools for surely having been faulty.

Two groups that seemed similar yet distinctly different.

“…What’s the point of this? I need to do something…”

“Ugh… I have to revise the circuit again… Where should I fix it…?”

However, in the end, both paths led to the same conclusion.

Acceptance.

Acknowledging and embracing failure while attempting a new approach.

But perhaps due to having undergone this acceptance several times,

Their movements lacked vigor.

There was no hint of enthusiasm.

However, just because there was no motivation, the culture festival wasn’t going anywhere.

And giving up the chance for a record that could significantly impact their careers—’Seoul Specialization High School Culture Festival Award Record’—was not an option.

Thus, they continued their experiments…

So the wizards and alchemists moved.

As they always did.

But…

“Huh?”

In their daily routine of experimenting, creating, failing, and feeling dejected,

A change occurred.

“What the heck is this?”

A negative change.

To be specific…

“…What the hell! Ants are munching on the materials!”

Suddenly, ants appeared, wrecking their research!

 

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